The Chronicler summarizes the whole sad incident in three words: Thus Saul died
(1 Chronicles 10:6). But included in this tragedy was the death of his three sons. The Chronicler’s concern is to stress that all his house died together.
The term house
here denotes his entire dynasty (royal house). The Chronicler was well aware that Saul was survived by Ish-bosheth (see 1 Chronicles 8:33). Whereas 1 Samuel 3:6 states that Saul and his sons died together on that same day,
the Chronicler omits this detail. This omission shows that he was summarizing the events to make the point that the house of Saul as good as perished at Gilboa: Ish-bosheth and his remnant Saulide kingdom counted for nothing from the perspective of later history.
1
The point is also made several times in these verses that Saul was dead. The Chronicler repeats the verb died
for a second time in this verse. As a result, the same Hebrew term occurs five times in this episode (1 Chronicles 10:5 (2x), 1 Chronicles 10:6 (2x), 1 Chronicles 10:7). The addition of a fifth use of this verb adds to the morbid character of the episode.2
The closing step of this episode focuses on the loss of land that belonged to Israel. Twice the text uses the term fled.
As in the beginning of this episode (see 1 Chronicles 10:1), the Israelites demonstrated that they were under God’s judgment because they fled from their enemies. Moreover, the Philistines came and occupied the land without resistance.
At a number of points in the preceding genealogies and lists, the Chronicler drew attention to the land possessed by various groups within Israel (see, for example, 1 Chronicles 2:42–55). These geographical references were designed to encourage the postexilic community to hope for the repossession of these lands. At this point, however, the Chronicler pointed out that a portion of this heritage was lost in the days of Saul.3
6 Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together.